


Leave Days

by msraven



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Get Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For as long as Phil has known Clint Barton, he has taken exactly one day of leave every month.</p><p>A quick fic because infiniteeight asked for fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [infiniteeight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infiniteeight/gifts).



For as long as Phil has known Clint Barton, he has taken exactly one day of leave every month. There is no pattern for which day of the month he chooses and Clint never takes extra days to replace any he may miss while on assignment. Clint always leaves around seven in the morning and returns by seven in the evening. Phil has never asked where he goes.

In the wake of the Chitauri attack and during Phil’s lengthy recovery, Clint takes no leave days. Phil doesn’t notice the discrepancy until the week after he’s reinstated as a full agent. He roams through the tower searching for the archer and finally stops back in the living room to ask the other Avengers if they know where Clint is.

“Clint mentioned he was taking a day of leave,” Steve responds from his favorite sketching spot by the window. “Did you need something, Phil?”

Phil just stops himself from saying that he only needed Clint. “Oh. No, thank you, Steve.”

He spends much of that day sitting in his home office and trying to catch up on reports, but ends up doing a lot of thinking instead. Clint’s presence during his recovery had been a godsend and Phil starts to wonder if he was taking him for granted, worries that _Clint_ thinks Phil takes him for granted. It leads to Phil taking a deeper look at their relationship over the years. By the time Clint gets home that night, Phil is waiting for him.

“Hey,” Phil greets from the couch as Clint steps off the elevator. He tries not to look like he was waiting for Clint, but probably failed if Clint’s guilty look is anything to go by.

“Sorry,” Clint apologizes. “I didn’t realize until I was already out that I’d forgotten to leave a note and that my phone was in my room.”

“It’s okay,” Phil responds and stands. “I was just thinking we could go out for dinner.”

“Oh! That sounds great,” Clint says with a smile. “Do you want me to see if any of the others want to come along?”

Phil fights a wince and forces himself to keep looking at Clint, feigning confidence. “Not really, no. It would be a little odd to have company on our first date, don’t you think?”

“Our first da--...Did you say...our _what?_ ” Clint gapes.

Phil takes a step closer to Clint, knowing that he hasn’t come to the wrong conclusion - he made a list, damn it. “I was hoping we could go out on a dinner date tonight,” he clarifies.

“You want to go out on a date...with me?” Clint asks disbelievingly.

“Yes, Clint,” Phil responds. “Isn’t that burger place you love just around the corner from here?”

“Uh, yeah,” Clint says and finally seems to notice that Phil is wearing jeans and a light sweater, on par with the archer’s own jeans and hoodie. Clint smiles bashfully and Phil calls himself all kinds of a fool for not having his mid-afternoon epiphany earlier. “Yeah,” Clint repeats, “dinner sounds great.”

Their first date leads to several others over the course of the next month. They have long conversations about how much their existing friendship means to them and agree that taking things slow, regardless of all the years they’ve known each other, is a good idea. 

When Clint’s next leave day rolls around, Phil gets up early to have breakfast with him and gets a wonderfully lingering kiss as a thank you. 

“Where’s Barton?” Stark asks later that morning after barging into Phil’s office unannounced.

“He took a day of leave,” Phil responds without looking up from the monitor in front of him.

“I know that much,” Stark says. “I want to know where he is and when he’ll be back to test the prototype quiver design.”

“I don’t know where Clint is, but he won’t be back until after dinner,” Phil replies automatically. 

“Wait. What? You really don’t know where he is?” Tony asks.

Phil sighs and look up at Tony. “No, Mr. Stark. I do not know where Clint goes on his leave days.”

“But...you guys are together now, right? Aren’t you the least bit curious?” Tony continues to prod.

“No, I am not. I respect his privacy and so will you.” Phil hope his voice conveys enough of the threat he’s intending. Clint doesn’t need Tony poking into his business.

“Fine,” Stark agrees. “I’ll talk to him about the quiver tomorrow - and nothing else, I promise.”

“Thank you, Tony.”

Despite Phil’s words to the contrary, a small sliver of doubt starts to creep into his mind. They’ve progressed to spending most nights together in Phil’s room by the time Clint announces that he’s taking another day of leave. Phil gets up to have breakfast with him again and then follows Clint out of the building.

It’s not until they’re several blocks away from the Tower that Phil realizes exactly what he’s doing. Quickly vetoing option one - going back home and stewing on the doubt all day - Phil reaches for his phone.

“Hey Phil!” Clint answers fondly. “Did I forget something back at --”

“I’m a half block behind you,” Phil interrupts. He’s close enough that he can see the look of confusion on Clint’s face as he spins around and walks back toward Phil.

“What’s going on?” Clint asks.

“I was tailing you,” Phil responds and reaches for Clint’s hand. “I’m sorry. I let Stark get to me. I was just curious about where you went on your leave days.”

“Oh!” Clint says with a shrug. “You could have just asked. It’s not a secret.”

“Where are you going?” Phil asks. “Is it the same place you’ve been going all these years?”

Clint nods. “Yeah. I’m headed to St. Jude’s.”

“The Children’s Hospital?”

“Yeah,” Clint blushes. “I do silly circus tricks and stuff for the kids. Teach them how to make homemade bows and arrows and sneak in silly string and generally cause chaos while I’m there. Helps them forget for a little while, you know?”

Phil really has no response other than, “I love you.”

Clint blinks at him in surprise as Phil puts both hands on either side of his face and pulls Clint in for a kiss. “You’re a good man, Clint Barton. I love you very much.”

“I love you too, Phil,” Clint says back. “Did you...would you like to come with me? You can be my lovely assistant.”

“Yes,” Phil responds. “I’d very much like to come with you.”

For nearly the whole time the Avengers have known Clint and Phil, they take exactly one leave day a month. There is no set pattern to which day of the month they take, but they always take them together.

_fin_


End file.
